Key events
PENALTY! Scotland 15 – 6 Australia (Blair Kinghorn)
53 mins. Scotland try a few drives from the lineout, but after two failed efforts and on the latest Aus infringement, Kinghorn decides enough is enough and boots one through the sticks to extend the lead.
50 mins. More phase in the Aussie 22 lead to another penalty for Scotland, who take a scrum from five metres. Unfortunately for the home side the Wallaby pack get a huge shove on to win the penalty that Foley clears away to touch.
But, as is the way, the visitors ruin their own good work by losing their lineout and Scotland are back on the attack in the gold 22.
48 mins. Australia are slow to roll away and concede a penalty in the Scotland half, which Paisami then makes worse by backchatting and giving Kinghorn a kick from 10 metres further on. The Scotland fly-half booms a huge kick to within five metres of the Wallaby line.
44 mins. The run up to that try sums up Australia in this match. Some lovely angles and handling right up to the point where they ruin their own attack through lack of precision or straight up poor basics. Credit to Mark Bennett though, who read the attack like a Just Eat menu in midfield.
TRY! Scotland 12 – 6 Australia (Blair Kinghorn)
43 mins. The Wallabies try a clever pattern off the back of a scrum but the ball is fumbled and Kinghorn hack it forward and chases it from fifty metres out to dribble it over the line and dive on it to score. Absolutely rapid pace from the Scotland 10, who lest we forget was previously a full-back or wing.
He converts his own try.
Second Half!
40 mins. Scotland receive the kick-off and boot it away up field.
Taniela Tupou has replaced Allan Ala’alatoa in the Australian front row.
Have a look at the finish by Ollie Smith from earlier.
OOOSH!
Half time musings.
Scotland should not be behind in this game. Australia have been fun with their myriad ways of flinging the ball about and McDermott’s energiser bunny act around the ruck, but their play has been loose, without shape and they’ve literally thrown a lot of possession away.
The home side have been the team most likely and with something resembling a coached attacking plan. However, they have not been able to convert, right down to spurning a number of three-pointers.
Townsend will be telling them to do more of the same and the points will come. Dave Rennie will probably be absolutely bollocking Australia then finishing by telling them to just try a few phased attacks and territorial kicks.
HALF TIME! Scotland 5 – 6 Australia
PEEEEEEEEP! That’s the last act of the half.
Elsewhere …
PENALTY! Scotland 5 – 6 Australia (Bernard Foley)
40 mins. Schoeman is caught lying the wrong side at the ruck and Australia have a penalty in a kickable position. Foley calls for the tee and puts his side ahead.
35 mins. The visitors can’t secure their own ruck ball and Smith boots it clear. A quick lineout is taken by Kellaway and Australia are into the 22 down the right touchline. The ball is chipped on but fullback Smith again covers across and slides in and onto the ball before the green and gold chasers.
33 mins. Huge maul from Australia from their own lineout ball on the Scotland 22. It oozes forward nearly ten metres and Scotland can do nothing but infringe and the Wallabies will go again from in close to the tryline.
30 mins. This is an odd penalty as Pierre Schoeman is pinged for doing a superman, try-scoring dive. The only issue with it was over the top of a tackler nowhere near the tryline, and you’re not allowed to do that.
28 mins. Scotland again ignore the points and go for the line, there’s lots of short carries from the forwards but they overwork this approach and in the then are held up over the line for a Wallaby drop-out under the posts.
26 mins. Possession is secured from the lineout and as they attack the posts Scotland have another penalty advantage. Kinghorn floats a delicious pass 20 metres right to Tuipulotu on the wing but he lets it bounce off his chest! That’s a definite score spurned by having hands like feet from the centre.
24 mins. Valetini has a big rumble up with the ball off the back of the lineout but the ball is again lost due to little control of the ruck presentation. There’s some kicking back and forth before Scotland get on the attack in the the opposition half.
The home side have a penalty bang in front, but Kinghorn ignores the points opportunity and puts it in the corner.
Sam Skinner is injured and replaced by Glen Young.
22 mins. An attack from the Wallabies in the 22 has very little shape even less dynamisn and ends with a knock on. Other than that it was fine.
Scotland try to pass it wide quick to run it out but that doesn’t really work either. Australia will have a lineout on the blue 22.
18 mins. A few minutes of Australia possession achieves little other than pinballing a Foley kick off a Scottish leg into touch on halfway. The visitors can do nothing from the resulting lineout and it’s all gone very quiet in Murrayfield as the game becomes a little dull.
PENALTY! Scotland 5 – 3 Australia (Bernard Foley)
15 mins. Scotland can’t secure the restart and then compound this as Schoeman is penalised at the breakdown. Foley calls for the tee and slots it from about 35 metres.
TRY! Scotland 5 – 0 Australia (Ollie Smith)
12 mins. Scotland win their next lineout and are up on the Wallaby 22. The ball comes left after a big Tuipulotu carry and a short hold-and-pop pass from Kinghorn finds Ollie Smith who ignores open players outside him to outrageously sidestep McDermott and then Banks to score.
That was a special finish on his home debut. Kinghorn misses the conversion.
9 mins. In a similar theme to their previous matches this year, Scotland lose their own lineout and McDermott, who is double busy in these opening minutes is buzzing forward with the ball again. It breaks down after Kellaway can’t hold his pass.
7 mins. The ball goes through hands, right to left touchline from Australia and Hooper is in behind the defence tight to the left whitewash. He’s stopped and on the next phase Scotland have a penalty as Australia seal the ball off.
3 mins. The Wallabies have possession deep in their 22 from an angled long kick off Kinghorn’s boot. They run it out and are nearly away down the right, but a chip and chase is covered by the retreating defence. A few phases later, McDermott flies through a gap near the ruck on halfway and again and is free before it’s another chip and chase that is covered by Scotland.
It looked a lot like McDermott was obstructed as he chased, but ref Pearce is not interested.
It’s an energetic start, people.
Kick Off!
1 min. Luke Pearce blasts hard on his discipline flute and this is a cue for Kinghorn to boot us underway. Australia recycle and clear via a McDermott box kick.
The teams are on their way out. There are flames and music and a young sergeant and others from the Air Training Corps waving flags of both nations.
I was in the Air Training Corps. Never made sergeant, though, as cadets night was Friday and I left when I was old enough to get served in the pub underage.
The incredibly sad story of the death of Scotland Women international Number 8 Siobhan Cattigan has been a difficult read over the recent months. There remain questions regarding the circumstances surrounding it and the actions or otherwise of the SRU, with players not happy with their players’ union either.
In this context, some Scotland fans, led by Allan MacDonald, are raising awareness by asking for an ovation in remembrance of Siobhan in the eighth minute of each of Scotland’s internationals this Autumn.
If the SRU won’t do it, it’s up to us as fans to make sure we remember this fantastic player who was gone to soon
I’m suggesting that we have an 8th minute ovation during the AIs to honour her memory and to let the SRU know we won’t forget. #8thminuteOvation
— Allan MacDonald (@OldGeneralist) October 27, 2022
You can read more about it here
Pre match reading
There’s been another men’s match today; the All Blacks toiling to a win over Japan. Read all about it here.
There are two Rugby World Cups running at the currently and now the Autumn Internationals heave into motion.
Why not email me or tweet with your thoughts on any of this and more besides?
Teams
After what most thought was some experimenting to see if Blair Kinghorn was up to being the backup out-half for Scotland, Townsend has gone all-in on the Edinburgh man, jettisoning talisman Finn Russell from the squad entirely. It’s hard to understand whey any coach would want to actively exclude their most talented player, but today we hope to find out, I suppose. Of course, this fixture being outside the agreed Autumn International window means Racing 92’s Russell would be available for today in any case.
Elsewhere, Darcy Graham will bring his outstanding domestic form into onto the international stage, as will Aussie convert Jack Dempsey from the bench. New captain Jamie Ritchie is on the blindside.
Michael Hooper starts at seven for Australia, with James Slipper captaining the side from hooker. Tate McDermott is in at scrum-half to partner Bernard Foley, The bench has some serious impact, with big carrier Tupou, Fainga’a and Samu to enter the fray.
Scotland
Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson; Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist; Jamie Ritchie (capt), Hamish Watson, Matt Fagerson; Ali Price, Blair Kinghorn; Duhan van der Merwe, Sione Tuipulotu, Mark Bennett, Darcy Graham; Ollie Smith.
Replacements: George Turner, Jamie Bhatti, WP Nel, Glen Young, Jack Dempsey, George Horne, Ross Thompson, Damien Hoyland.
Australia
James Slipper (capt), David Porecki, Allan Ala’alatoa; Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Neville; Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper, Rob Valetini; Tate McDermott, Bernard Foley; Tom Wright, Hunter Paisami, Len Ikitau, Andrew Kellaway; Tom Banks.
Replacements: Folau Fainga’a, Matt Gibbon, Taniela Tupou, Ned Hanigan, Pete Samu, Nic White, Noah Lolesio, Jock Campbell.
Preamble
Welcome to Murrayfield for the opening match of the Autumn Internationals in the Scottish capital.
All the chat coming into the game has been about the absence of Finn Russell from Gregor Townsend’s squad; the ringmaster locked out of his own big top. While this is understandably the story taking up the the column inches and the Twitter snitches, it has meant there’s been little consideration that Scotland will be gunning for the fourth win in a row against the Wallabies, something not achieved by the boys in blue in nearly a century of trying.
For their part, Australia have had a difficult 2022 so far. Results and injuries have not gone their way for the most part and this has seen then drop to ninth in the World Rankings. However, actually watching Dave Rennie’s men play tells a different story they’ve been promising in may periods this year and give you the impression they are are team on the upwards curve.
They’ll hope to demonstrate that today against a Scotland side coming in as favourites for the win.
